1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording material that can record with high sensitivity to light in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions and can be applied to a wide range of fields, such as inks, color filters, holograms, proofs, sealants, adhesives, surface printing, resin relief printing and photoresists, and to an image forming method that the recording material.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dry type image recording methods that do not use a liquid developer and do not cause waste have been variously studied. Among these recording methods, a method using a composition that is cured with light is attracting attention. This method is characterized in that a photocurable composition, which is contained in the recording material, is cured by exposure to form a latent image, and a component, which has a coloring or decoloring reaction when heated, is moved to form a color image. Specifically, light exposes a recording material through an image copy, and a latent image is formed by curing the exposed part. Thereafter, a visual image can be formed by heating the recording material, and moving, in the uncured (unexposed) part, the coloring or decoloring component, which is inside the recording material.
According to the method, a completely dry system that causes no waste can be realized. The method is characteristic in recording a monochrome image and is particularly useful for recording a color image.
The inventors have proposed in JP-A No. 3-87827 and No. 4-211252 recording materials that suppress coloration in a non-image part and provide a high image density. In the former recording material, one of two components of a two-component type photosensitive and heat-sensitive coloration recording material is encapsulated in microcapsules, and the other is used as a curable compound of a photo-curable composition, or the other is contained outside the microcapsules with the photo-curable composition. The later recording material has a coated layer containing a photo-curable composition, which contains microcapsules encapsulating an electron-donor colorless colorant, and outside the microcapsules, an electron-acceptor compound, a polymerizable vinyl monomer and a photopolymerization initiator.
There is a demand for these recording materials to provide high glossiness to impart sophisticated feeling to an image. Furthermore, improvements in light fastness of the image are also desired in order to impart a value to the image such that the image can be appreciated for a long period of time.
The present invention is to solve the problems in the conventional art and to attain the following objects.
One of the objects of the invention is to provide a recording material providing high glossiness and high light fastness and a process for forming an image using the recording material.